Observations On Changes In Challenges And Top Stories On Vocal
It Is Four Years Since I Was Successfully Tempted By Vocal
Introduction
This was the challenge that finally tempted me with a $2,000 prize, and I thought, "I can do that":
Then
I actually didn't know how to enter, and I never submitted my poem:
I'm sure I wouldn't have won anyway, as I came to realise that due to the sheer number of creators on Vocal, winning was a lot more difficult than I thought.
Also, in those days, Top Stories were not very frequent, so when you got one, it was special. They also had awesome stories which gave you five dollars but were not featured on the home page.
This became a time for making friends with other Vocal creators, learning and writing. Vocal became my most profitable writing venture that I have been involved in.
I joined a few Facebook Vocal groups that I listed in this poem. The fact that I wrots a poem like this shows that I learned things by being on Vocal.
Since then, there have been a lot of Vocal developments, like commenting on stories and improvements to the editor and the search facility.
Now
Vocal Top Stories are now a daily feature, and many people get a lot of them, although it doesn't generally seem to generate reads. One recent one had no reads and no hearts; it wasn't particularly good, but was from a Vocal favourite, which was probably the reason it was chosen.
Challenge now have a $200 top prize, but for recent ones, there are FIVE top prizes, plus runners up and honourable mentions (I have scraped four of those somehow).
So it looks like Vocal are probably paying out more than when I first started, but it is spread over a hell of a lot more people. You look at some profile pages, and they are awash with challenge wins and placements, which makes you feel you really have a chance to do that yourself.
Conclusion
I am close to having my first story with ten dollars from reads, which is something I never expected.
Vocal is an excellent platform, and you can use it to improve your writing and make a bit of coffee money, too.
You won't always get Top Stores or Challenge Placements, but it is nice to see your friends get them.
One side effect of Vocal is that I have always wanted to write a book, and thanks to Vocal, I have twelve self-published volumes on Amazon, including this beauty, co-authored with The Glittering Fox.
Thank you so much for reading and hope you have enjoyed it.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
A Weaver of Tales and Poetry
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Comments (13)
This was the Challenge that got me, too. And your points are valid.
Your wisdom concerning the various changes that have occurred on Vocal as it has evolved and grown are always instructive, Mikeydred. I believe my writing has improved thanks to this platform and the many splendid scribblers who make it a vibrant, creative community, and I am grateful for that and eager to see what new and challenging developments lie in store.
Yes, Vocal has come a long way in my 3 years here. Hope it keeps on improving hehehe
Nicely put, Mike. I enter the competitions with only a glimmer of hope of ever collecting a prize. I do it because I think it stretches my writing skills and gets me to do things I would not normally do. The interaction with followers and friends is a highlight of my day. I also agree with K.B. I came from Medium. The wheels are falling off Medium, which will only make getting top stories or winning competitions more difficult on Vocal, as more people flee the Medium ship.
Well said. I am just coming from Medium where they are crashing and burning as far as writer satisfaction, and all of the positives you listed are reasons why I am here. 👏👏💖
I think that the platform is going to continue to evolve as they grow and get feedback from users. Obviously, as they take on more of the financial burden themselves rather than having sponsors do it, the prizes are going to be smaller, especially if they spread it out among so many winners, but maybe that’s better than being spammed with ads and articles for those sponsors? I don’t know. So long as I still have a supportive community to go to and share my writing with (and, of course, read the writing of), I’ll be happy.
I love how you always start these conversations about Vocal. I think many creators are thinking along the lines of what you are brave enough to put into words. I have mixed feelings about the changes in challenges. I like that more stories are being recognized in challenges and Top Stories. I think that helps fuel our passions and keep those of us who have never won a challenge feeling like we have some talent, along with the support of other writers with wonderful comments. I do think lately the platform has been overwhelmed with too many simultaneous challenges. I try to read all the winners, runners-up and honorable mentions, but I can't keep up. There's too many stories and not enough time. It used to be that challenge winners would have lots of comments but now some winners only get a couple comments. I would love to see Vocal find a balance to be able to honor more writers while also spacing out challenges to better give us time to produce quality entries and support the winning pieces.
I never did get the $50 for 50 stories. Someone told me to write vocal and tell them... I did. Never got any response. My highest paid story has only 4 likes on it but it has 11,502 reads and has generated $48.91. The Facebook groups I used to love are mostly spam now. Even the Vocal one that shares stuff directly from the site is full of people spamming the comments with their own stories instead of congratulating winners. People just want to be seen, not involved. I have never won any challenges. Never placed runner up even. I haven't given up. I love the prompts. I've been taken out of my "comfort zone" quite a few times just this past few months and I love it. I do feel a bit defeated sometimes when I publish something that took me hours and it gets nothing lol. Especially when I'm working so hard to acknowledge others. I try to tell myself "quality not quantity" when it comes to people interacting with my work. I have a few great people that leave such encouraging and thoughtful comments and for that, I'm grateful. I do find it insane that my story with over 11k reads has only 4 likes though..
Great article Mr. Mike. Vocal sure as changed over the years. I remember getting a few bonuses for liking and reading stories but never did get the $50 bonus. Vocal is a great place to write, read and comment with friends.
I like the way this reads, like a diary entry that you're letting your Vocal friends peek in on. Very nice way to share your thoughts about your journey with this platform.
Oh yeah, Vocal has changed a lot over time. I got kind of sick of the whole getting a top story thing, especially if they were on stories of mine which didn't generate many reads (for example: poetry anthology reviews). But, I do appreciate that I can often discern which of my top stories are read by people who actually write stories and those who use AI to generate stories. (For example: my anti-AI stories often generated a huge mass of people reading them who were using AI to generate stories - plus, they were liking them too which I found weird). I would prefer the top stories to be updated once a month and be something to do with that month. For example: more LGBTQA+ stories more often in Pride Month, so we can connect with those creators who are celebrating and of course, spooky folk stories during Halloween. But, the choosing so far seems to be random. Thanks for writing this piece mate and sharing your views. I'm still quite sad you didn't manage to get your poem in for that competition. I'm sure you would have done really well in it xxx
Also lured by a big prize competition. Stayed for the ease of it.
I really enjoyed reading this, it’s such an honest look back at how much Vocal has changed over time!